A Million Women Farming: She-I-E-I-O!

In 1978, women led operations on about 122,000 US farms — a mere 5% of the total count. By 2007, that number had increased to more than 300,000 — 14% of all US farms were led by women. Add to that number the count of secondary women farm operators — those that help others run farms — and you’ve got a million women farming, accounting for 30% of all US farmers!

Most women-owned farms are very small with less than $10,000 in annual sales, but about 15,400 of them had 2007 sales of more than $100,000. Unfortunately, however, more women than men rely on off-farm jobs, leading one to believe that farming doesn’t pay all the bills for these pioneering souls. But despite the lack of fortune and fame, women are flocking to farms.

Why? Kathleen Merrigan, former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, believes it’s partly due to an increased interest in knowing where our food comes from and how it was grown. She also noted in her blog that “one of the most exciting findings of the ERS report is that younger women are entering farming faster than older women are leaving. Women also have a higher land ownership rate than their male counterparts, with 85% of women owning all of the land they farm, compared to 66% of their male counterparts.”

About the Author

Mary Gerush Hi all! I'm Mary Gerush - a recovering corporate worker bee turned good-farm-real-food advocate and writer who wants to help people understand what they're eating. I tend a tiny urban farm in Dallas, TX, and hope to scale up one day soon. Omnivore through-and-through, there's not much I love to eat more than a butter-basted grass fed steak fresh from a searing hot cast iron skillet. Follow me on Google +, Twitter, and Pinterest!

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